...The summer ends and we wonder who we are
And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car
And today I passed the high school, the river, the maple tree
I passed the farms that made it
Through the last days of the century
And I knew that I was going to learn again
Again, in this less hazy light
I saw the fields beyond the fields
The fields beyond the fields

And the colors are much brighter now
It's like they really want to tell the truth
We give our testimony to the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer,
You can spin the light to gold.

from Dar Williams Lyrics
"The End Of The Summer"

Ingredients for the homemade apple chips:

2 large apples (Gala or Idared work well)

Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

1tsp. cinnamon

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Ingredients for butternut squash soup:

1 1/2Tbs. olive oil

3/4cup sliced shallots

6cups unsalted chicken stock, warmed, plus more as needed

1butternut squash (midium size), peeled and cubed

2 carrots, peeled and cubed

1 russet potato, peeled and diced (optional)

1⁄3cup heavy cream

1tsp. curry

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

small sage leaves for garnish

Directions for homemade apple chips:
Preheat oven to 200˚F.
Thinly slice apples crosswise about 1/8-inch thick with a mandoline or sharp knife. Arrange apple slices in a single layer on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets.
In small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Put mixture into a sieve and sprinkle evenly over apple slices.

Bake in the top and bottom third of the oven until apples are dry and crisp, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and let ‘chips’ cool completely before transferring to a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Makes about 2 cups apple chips.

Directions for butternut squash soup:

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the squash, the carrots, potato, broth and the 1/2 tsp. salt, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

In a blender or food processor, puree the soup, in batches if necessary, until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the heavy cream. Heat the soup until just hot, then stir in the curry and adjust the seasoning with salt. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and serve immediately. Garnish with small sage leaves.

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comments:

Butter squash is amazing in the soup.You intrigued me whith roasted apple.Before we moved to New Zealand I never ate buttersquash(as many other food either) I always thought squash was only fed to the pigs.Lucky I was wrong:)

Dzoli, thank you so much for your warm words. I love your comments and I feel like I have a friend here. I've never been to New Zealand, but I know how beautiful it is from "Lord of the rings" movie. Very good to meet you!-))

Your soup looks wonderful and your photos of its creation are just beautiful. This is my first visit to your blog, so I took some extra time to browse through your earlier posts. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes you share with your readers. I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

SIMPLY STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHS. It is very difficult to get soup to look appealing and you have certainly done it with this post... Possibly the best i have ever seen!

Greetings. This is my first time on your blog, but you have a terrific one. I am always on the look out for new blogs, new ideas. I especially appreciate all the details you d0. Great photos makes it seem like anyone can replicate the recipe!

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I finally got try this recipe and it was amazing! I made couple substitutions - I didn't have shallots, so I used onions instead, and I used yogurt instead of heavy cream, and it was still really good. Thanks for all of your hard work and beautiful pictures!